by Mason Smith ‘28

Initiated last year, the MCPS Strategic Plan sets a variety of goals for student and school enrichment by 2030. Sherwood has made a massive step in a particular area outlined by the plan, “Future Ready Graduates,” by implementing the Career Advising Champion Team.

Headed by College & Career Navigator Jenny Davis, the Champion Team is composed of teacher volunteers, who are paid a stipend, to help extend career readiness programs. According to Davis, the biggest challenge in career advising at Sherwood is that students “don’t know what they don’t know.”

The Champion Team hopes to provide additional activities and resources to increase student exposure to an array of career paths and professional environments, from organizing more Meet a Pro events to taking time to teach students how to tie a tie.

This comes as a study from the DeBruce Foundation recently identified career literacy, defined as the capacity to evaluate your skills and make career decisions based on that evaluation, as a major indicator of employment security and satisfaction. It also stresses its importance in a volatile job market where career pivots and transitions are more common. The study contrasts with preconceptions that grades or a college degree are the most substantial drivers of career outcomes. 

The Champion Team is very aligned with this emphasis. “As a classroom teacher I don’t have a lot of daily interaction with career coaching at all,” said Christina Baldwin, a biology teacher and newly recruited member of the Champion Team. “And that’s part of the reasoning behind all this: to increase that in the classroom so that you as a student, if you have questions and you want to approach a teacher and tell them to come sit down and practice.” This type of counseling is offered by Baldwin, Shawn Hillman, and Claudia Wilks, the official members of the team. To assess whether students are being exposed to career opportunities, Davis anticipates the Champion Team will issue surveys asking if and how students heard about events that it organizes. 

The Champion Team has also recruited a Student Advisory Council to have a consistent source of student input for all of their initiatives. It is composed of one representative from each grade level. According to Davis, it recently helped develop a concept for a professional clothes closet for students who may not have access to that type of attire.

Both Baldwin and Davis are excited as the Champion Team approaches the new school year. “When this starts to really trickle down into the classrooms and we talk about it like the back of our hand,” said Davis, “I think that that will help along the way.”